Singh is charged by the feds with tens of millions of dollars in bribery, fraud and tax evasion charges. Among his alleged crimes was scamming $950,000 from FEMA by inflating claims of Hurricane Sandy damage. Mangano has been under a shadow since 2013, when Nassau County awarded a $12 million public works contract to AbTech, an Arizona-based environmental company. AbTech got the plum county contract soon after hiring Adam Skelos, son of now-jailed Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.* The looming charges center on Mangano’s tiesto federally-indicted Long Island restaurant magnate Harendra Singh, and will allege that Mangano helped Singh with business deals and in return was treated to free vacations and other perks, sources said Wednesday.* Ed Mangano to be charged with federal corruption(NYP)

In Exchange for Contracts Singh Paid for Mangano Trips Hired His Wife What Did He Do for de Blasio?

Ed Mangano will not resign, calls ‘pay-for-play’ charges nonsense(NYP)Nassau County’s top elected official enjoyed free Caribbean vacations and a Brookstone massage chair — while his wife raked in $450,000 for a no-show job as a “food taster” — in a pay-for-play scheme, the feds said Thursday. County Executive Ed Mangano was arrested Thursday morning with his wife, Linda, and Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto. The two pols allegedly raked in graft in exchange for doling out lucrative contracts and underwriting $20 million in loans to local restaurateur Harendra Singh. “This is not just, ‘I am your friend, let me do this for you.’ This is, ‘In my capacity as county executive, as an executive of the town of Oyster Bay, I am doing this in exchange for something better,’ ” said US Attorney Robert Capers. Singh would ply Mangano and his family with lavish trips and pricey gadgets while making sure Venditto was squired around town in a limo and given a free party room at his eateries, the feds and sources said. Singh also gave Linda Mangano the no-show job at a restaurant in Queens, keeping her on the payroll between April 2010 and August 2014, prosecutors said.In exchange, Singh was given food contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and got the town of Oyster Bay to guarantee four loans he received from a bank and a private financing company, the 13-count, 19-page indictment says. On Thursday, the feds raided Mangano’s home, recovering a few of the items Singh allegedly gave the family in exchange — including an ergonomic massage chair and a more than $7,000 watch. The charges against Mangano and Venditto include conspiracy to commit federal program bribery and honest-services fraud. If convicted, they face up to 20 years behind bars for each honest-services fraud charge. The three were also charged with obstructing justice for allegedly concocting false stories with Singh in to hide their dealings. Mangano faces up to 20 years for an extortion charge. Venditto and Linda Mangano face up to five years for making false statements.* Once Again, a No-Show Job Plays a Role in a New YorkGraft Case(NYT)

Corrupt to the core: The sordid case of NassauCounty Executive Ed Mangano and Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto(NYDN Ed) The documented bribery started just three months into Mangano’s term, on April 9, 2010, when Linda Mangano got her first paycheck for a nonexistent job from restaurateur Harendra Singh (who is cooperating with the feds).She would wind up pocketing more than $450,000 for work as a “food taster.” Besides the paychecks, Singh paid for Mangano vacations from Niagara Falls to the Caribbean, a $7,304 wristwatch, a $3,000 massage chair, a $2,000 desk chair and even hardwood flooring in the Manganos’ bedroom. In return, prosecutors allege, Mangano and Venditto greased Singh with government-backed loan guarantees from Town of Oyster Bay and food services contracts with the county — including supplying bread and rolls to the county jail. As they await trial and possible prison time, Mangano and Venditto, loyal cogs in Boss Joe Mondello’s Nassau GOP machine, must resign — and give government on Long Island a fighting chance to clean itself up. Meantime, Mr. and Mrs. Mangano should be sure to enjoy their hardwood floors. The floors where they could well be heading are made of cold concrete. *Newsweek writesthat Mangano and Venditto should resign because they can’t fulfill their duties as they contend with federal charges of corruption, which Newsweek calls stunning “only in the pettiness of the gifts allegedly taken.”

NYT See Mangano Arrest As A Way to Win A Democrat Majority in the Senate

LI Pol At the Center of A Federal Investigation Caught in Sexting Blames Hackers

Long Island politicianclaims hackers responsible for sexting exchanges (NYDN) Is he the suburban Carlos Danger? Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano was caught swapping X-rated text messages with several women, WCBS-TV reported Saturday night. The lurid sexting scandal featured one exchange where a woman wrote Mangano, “I want you to f--k my brains out even if it’s in my car again,” according to the WCBS exclusive.*

CBS2 Exclusive: Ed Mangano Scandal * The woman implicated in a “sexting” scandal with Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano is in the midst of divorcing her husband, who told the NY Post he suspects she may have been involved with a different man. My wife was having an affair — but not with Nassau exec (NYP) The woman implicated in a “sexting” scandal with Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano is in the midst of divorcing her husband, who told The Post he suspects she may have been involved with a different man. But Alexander Caro said Sunday that his soon-to-be ex, who runs a public-relations firm called BluChip Marketing, did score no-bid contracts from NassauCounty with Mangano’s help. Karin Caro met Mangano through connections at the famed OhekaCastle, whose owner, Gary Melius, was shot in the face during a still-unsolved ambush there two years ago, Alexander told The Post. “These were people I didn’t really want to do business with. And she went and got a contract without a public bid, which was a bad idea because they didn’t go through the normal bidding process,” he said. “How she was able to get it, I really don’t know, but it wasn’t right.”Meanwhile, both Mangano and Karin Caro on Sunday denied sending steamy text messages to each other. CBS2 first reported the allegations and said the messages involved a user identified as both “Ed M” and “Ed Mangano.” In one message, a woman told “Ed Mangano”: “I want you to (blank) my brains out even if it’s in my car again,” according to CBS2. * A marketing company executive linked to Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano through disputed racy messages received two no-bid county contracts of the kind critics have said are designed to avoid public scrutiny, Newsday reports * Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas should subpoena the records of the wireless providers of Mangano and a marketing executive linked to the alleged exchange of explicit texts, and the truth must be straightforward, Newsday writes: * Newsday calls for Nassau County DA Madeline Singas to be brought into the Mangano sext message scandal investigation. * * Despite public statements to the contrary, Nassau County police did not receive a formal criminal complaint into whether someone hacked County Executive Ed Mangano’s cellphone to make it appear that he exchanged sexually charged text messages with a public relations executive, Newsday reports: * Sources tell Newsday there will be no formal criminal complaint filed in the texting case involving Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano.* The Nassau County Police Department did not receive a formal criminal complaint into whether someone hacked Nassau County Edward Mangano’s cellphone to make it appear that he exchanged sexually charged text messages with a PR executive — contrary to public statements made by both Mangano and the department.* Sources: Mangano Never Signed Criminal Complaint ForHacking Claims * A Suffolk marketing executive, linked to Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano in a reported exchange of sexually suggestive texts, helped promote a 2013 county fundraiser that was touted as helping veterans, but the checks went to a private group whose records have been subpoenaed by federal investigators.* The Nassau County cops say the EdMangano sexting story was a "hoax." * Nassau police have found no evidence that CountyExecutive Edward Mangano exchanged sexually suggestive text messages with a marketing executive — nor that either of their phones was hacked — police announced today. * In the hopes of finding new leads on the case, SuffolkCounty police today released a portion of surveillance video that shows OhekaCastle owner and political power broker Gary Melius being shot.

Shocked, shocked!Nassau GOP Joe Mondello sees corruption (NYDN) The boss of the Nassau County Republican machine, a man whose law firm has scored contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from county government, declared hilariously the other day that he’s foot-stamping mad about the party’s rampant corruption. His brigade of pirates includes Dean Skelos, convicted former state Senate majority leader; a planning commissioner charged with failing to report $2 million in income from a town contractor, and County Executive Edward Mangano, who has accepted trips from an indicted businessman. “There’s a lot going on and it has me really upset,” Joe Mondello declared. Among the things going on is the employment of outgoing Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, Mondello’s wholly unqualified candidate for Nassau district attorney., Mondello’s wholly unqualified candidate for Nassau district attorney. Soon to be unemployed after that bid fell short, Murray needed a job. And, wouldn’t you know it, a spot was found for her at NassauCountyCommunity College, as acting general counsel for government relations. Although the post was about to be abolished, the school’s trustees discovered a sudden interest in hiring Murray. StateUniversity of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher properly raised an objection that the school is searching for a permanent president, who should have the prerogative to select whomever he or she wants — or no one. Fat chance, because NassauCommunity College is but one more of the patronage mills run by Mondello, who’s so furious about corruption. * The Daily News writes that it is "hilarious" that Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano declared he was upset by the corruption taking place in his county considering he is part of the problem, arranging a patronage job for outgoing Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray:

After the Skelos Trial Watch the Interlocking-Directories on Long Island, Mangano, Skelos and D'Amato

Evidence released during former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos’ trial showed Skelos confronted the NassauCounty executive in an effort to help his son as they went together to a funeral for a slain police officer, The Wall Street Journal reports: * Cuomo, whose administration already appears to be in the crosshairs of US Attorney Preet Bharara’s office, needs to deliver tougher ethics laws if he wants to avoid having his legacy tarnished by Albany’s ethics morass, reform advocates said.

D'Amato Largest Lobbyists On Long Island

Ten lobbying firms and nine companies with in-house lobbyists have registered with NassauCounty during the first six months of its new disclosure requirements – with most focusing their efforts on County Executive Edward Mangano’s office.*

Senate Health Committee Chairman Kemp Hannon has big moneyin drug firms(NYDN) Alfonse D'Amato's Park Strategies is the largest local lobbyist, with 20 clients, followed by the nine clients claimed by Davidoff Hutcher &amp; Citron LLP, where former Democratic countyLegis. Michael Zapson is one of several politically connected partners. While many of the lobbyists have operated in Nassau for years -- and have disclosed activity with New YorkState -- they never before had to register locally. The change was prompted by the May arrests of state Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Cen *Tapes Reveal How Indicted@SenatorSkelos Used Nassau County Exec @EdMangano to Manipulate @NYGovCuomo

D'Amato Testimony At Skelos and Son's Trial: "Appeatance of Impropriety"

D'Amato said — including recommending Adam register as a lobbyist because it sounded like that's what he was doing already. D'Amato said his company, Park Strategies, had no interest in hiring him because it would give an "appearance of impropriety" since his firm lobbies the state. Asked afterwards about why he testified for the prosecution, D'Amato said, "I didn't testify against my friend. I just answered questions." *

D’Amato says he warned Skelos about son’s no-show job (NYP) He recalled telling Dean that his business partner Greg Serio was “very upset” about Adam’s gig as a $78,000-a-year program director at PRI. But Dean – who had pressured friend and PRI CEO Anthony Bonomo to give Adam the job in the first place — didn’t seem all that concerned. US Attorney Preet Bharara, who has been a frequent fixture at the ongoing father-son trial, also showed up Friday for D’Amato’s testimony. D’Amato also recalled how Dean asked him to meet with Adam, 33, to give him “some advice” – so he did. “I asked if he was a registered lobbyist,” D’Amato said, noting that some of Adam’s political “activities” seemed like ones he’d be “required to register.” But Adam took the one-on-one as an opportunity to ask D’Amato for a job at Park Strategies, a request that was promptly shut down to avoid an “appearance of impropriety,” the pol testified. D’Amato, a former resident of Highland Park, a Long Island town that is represented by Dean, took a moment to plug his pal’s senatorial career. “His service was fabulous,” he said. “He was always attentive to the needs of constituents throughout the district.” Outside the courthouse, D’Amato denied that he took the stand against Dean. “I didn’t testify against my friend. I just answered the questions,” he told reporters. Prosecutors expect to wrap up their case Monday. Defense attorneys said Friday Adam won’t testify and will decide by Saturday night if Dean will take the stand. * Former Sen. Alphonse D’Amato took to the witness stand at former state Sen. Dean Skelos’ corruption trial, saying he met personally with Skelos to warn him about his son Adam’s behavior at his job, The New York Timesreports

Bonomo D'Amato and the PRI Job for Adam Skelos How Albany Pay to Play Works

Testimony at Trial Details No-Show Job of Dean Skelos’s Son (NYT) Anthony Bonomo testified that he was afraid to fire Adam Skelos, 33, from his $78,000-a-year job because it might upset his father, who at the time was the State Senate majority leader. Mr. Skelos was hired by P.R.I. earlier that year, and evidence offered Thursday at the political corruption trial of State Senator Dean G. Skelos, a Long Island Republican, and his son, Adam, showed he rarely appeared for work. Adam Skelos’s former supervisor has previously testified that the senator’s son threatened to “smash” in his head after he questioned his work habits. ut Anthony Bonomo, the company’s chief executive and owner, testified on Thursday that he was afraid to fire Adam Skelos, 33, from his $78,000-a-year job because it might upset the senator, whose influence as the Senate majority leader could sway legislation that could directly affect P.R.I., a medical malpractice insurer on Long Island that is licensed by the state. “I just felt that it was best to do nothing and to avoid the chance in Albany that, you know, that we would run into a problem with any legislation,”

Mr. Bonomo explained. Mr. Bonomo, 57, acknowledged that he and Senator Skelos, 67, have known each other for years. The two met in 1980 when Mr. Bonomo was a law clerk at a firm that the older Mr. Skelos worked for. Over the years, they stayed in touch, meeting at political fund-raisers and charity events. Mr. Bonomo would go on to run P.R.I., which has significant business before the state. For a time he was chairman of the New York Racing Association. In 2010, at a party hosted by Park Strategies, a lobbying and corporate strategy firm founded by former United States Senator Alfonse M. D’Amato, a New York Republican, a conversation between the two men turned to what Mr. Bonomo could do for Adam Skelos. In cross-examination, G. Robert Gage Jr., a lawyer for the senator, asked Mr. Bonomo if the senator had ever linked the executive’s treatment of Adam Skelos to the senator’s positions on legislation that could affect P.R.I. “No, he did not,” Mr. Bonomo replied.* Skelos indictment points to medical malpractice firm (Capital) * , Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed Anthony Bonomo, a former a board member, chairman of the New York Racing Association. * New racing boss has ties to Skelos corruption scheme (NYP)* Insurance executive Anthony Bonomo testified that he was afraid to fire Adam Skelos because it might upset his father, Dean Skelos, whose influence as the Senate majority leader could sway legislation, The New York Times reports:

"Physicians Reciprocal, like other large companies in New York, contracts witha number of heavy-hitting lobby firms, including two that are tied to the environmental firm in the Skelos probe. State lobby records show Bonomo's company hired The Capitol Group and Brian Meara, companies that also represented an affiliate of AbTech, the Arizona-based environmental firm linked to the Skelos investigation. Physicians Reciprocal also hired Park Strategies, a firm led by former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato."* Skelos is also accused of extorting a $100,000 no-show job for his son from Anthony Bonomo, whose two medical malpractice firms have combined to pay D'Amato's lobbying firm, Park Strategies, $795,000 since 2007. Bonomo has co-hosted political fundraisers with D'Amato, and his goldmine of campaign contributions, including $75,000 to Mangano and $400,000 to Gov. Cuomo, meticulously track D'Amato alliances.* * According to evidence introduced in his criminal trial, Adam Skelos had a direct line into his father's top staffer, Robert Mujica, and emailed him about setting up a meeting between AbTech and the Department of Health while the state studied a ban on fracking, Politico New York reports:

Bonomo just stepped down as the Cuomo-appointed chair of the New York Racing Association, and is singing to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who now leads a veritable chorus of cooperating crooners.*That firm, PRI, has greatly stepped up its lobbying game in recent years, nearly doubling the money they’ve spent lobbying Albany. They’ve even hired four big-time lobbying firms to make their case with the governor and the legislature. One of the lobbyists hired by PRI is one Brian Meara. Meara isup to his eyeballs in the federal corruption case against disgraced former Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver. Anthony Bonomo is firmly enmeshed in the state’s campaign finance firmament. P.R.I. and members of the Bonomo family have donated more than $877,000 to state-level candidates and party committees in the 2014 election cycle, placing them among the top 25 largest contributors in the entire state, according to the state Board of Elections. The largest beneficiary was Cuomo. The governor along with the state Democratic Committee received nearly $400,000 over the past four years from the Bonomo family, according to Board of Elections records. Along the way, Bharara flipped the bagman for the state’s largest political donor, a man responsible for spreading millions in campaign cash all over the state to politicians in both parties, and let it be known that he now had god-only-knows how many new wiretap targets thanks to Sheldon Silver. That sent shockwaves through Albany and has lawmakers all over town freaking right the hell out.Bharara is so far in their heads that they are too scared to even do typical end of session horse trading for fear that Bharara will nail them for it. The recent FBI raids on the homes of WNY’s premier ratfcker Steve Pigeon and his cronies may be unrelated to all of this. Or maybe they aren’t.

During the afternoon session, Richard Walker, who is NassauCounty’s chief deputy executive, testified that he tried to prioritize requests and meetings related to AbTech and Adam Skelos because of Senator Skelos’s position. “He is the majority leader,” Mr. Walker said. “If he’s not happy with the actions of the county, with the way the county’s moving forward, that could be a problem.” Senator Skelos, not just his son, seemed to take an active interest in AbTech. At one point, during the funeral for one of the two New York police officers shot to death last December, Mr. Walker said, he overheard the senator mention to Mr. Walker’s boss that AbTech was still waiting for its latest payment from the county. Mr. Walker said he immediately made a phone call to check on the funds. Mr. Walker is being investigated by the United States attorney in the Eastern District of New York over the awarding of contracts to campaign contributors, among other allegations. He said he was testifying under a grant of immunity, but said he was receiving no benefits in the other investigation for his testimony in the Skelos case.* A federal investigation into Nassau’s chief deputy county executive, Rob Walker, centers on a $12-million county storm cleanup contract won by a company that gave money to Walker’s political committee just as the agreement was finalized, according to a source with knowledge of the probe.* The federal Securities and Exchange Commission has requested documents from the Town of Oyster Bay regarding disputed $20 million loan guarantees obtained by indicted contractor Harendra Singh.

Edward Mangano notgiven immunity in Dean Skelos case (Newsday) Mangano lawyer Kevin Keating of Garden City declined on Saturday to answer questions but said in a prepared statement: “Mr. Mangano is merely a fact witness in the Skelos matter and if called to testify he will provide truthful testimony, even though Mr. Mangano has engaged in no wrongdoing. If he is asked questions about unrelated matters, I have counseled him to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege,” a position Keating said is “fully appropriate” under the law. Dean Skelos attorney Robert Gage made the disclosure about Mangano at a sidebar on Friday in court, during testimony by Mangano’s chief deputy, Rob Walker, who did receive immunity. Neither the judge nor the prosecution disputed Gage’s statement. Mangano and Walker have both been identified in Newsday stories as being under scrutiny in an unrelated corruption probe by federal prosecutors on Long Island stemming from charges against restaurateur Harendra Singh, who was a major campaign contributor to Mangano and others on the Island. Both Mangano and Walker were viewed as potential witnesses in the Skelos case, brought by different federal prosecutors in Manhattan, because court filings indicate that both had contacts with alleged efforts by Skelos and his son, Adam Skelos, to push a $12 million storm water-pollution contract with Nassau County for AbTech Industries, a firm that hired the son. Walker, who testified Friday, said he would assert his Fifth Amendment right and testified under an immunity order signed by U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood, which assured him that his testimony in the Skelos trial would not be used to prosecute him for anything unless he committed perjury, but gave him no assurance that he won’t be prosecuted in the Long Island investigation based on other evidence.

After the Skelos Trial Watch the Interlocking-Directories on Long Island, Mangano, Skelos and D'Amato

Evidence released during former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos’ trial showed Skelos confronted the NassauCounty executive in an effort to help his son as they went together to a funeral for a slain police officer, The Wall Street Journal reports: * Cuomo, whose administration already appears to be in the crosshairs of US Attorney Preet Bharara’s office, needs to deliver tougher ethics laws if he wants to avoid having his legacy tarnished by Albany’s ethics morass, reform advocates said.

D'Amato Largest Lobbyists On Long Island

Ten lobbying firms and nine companies with in-house lobbyists have registered with NassauCounty during the first six months of its new disclosure requirements – with most focusing their efforts on County Executive Edward Mangano’s office.*

Senate Health Committee Chairman Kemp Hannon has big moneyin drug firms(NYDN) Alfonse D'Amato's Park Strategies is the largest local lobbyist, with 20 clients, followed by the nine clients claimed by Davidoff Hutcher &amp; Citron LLP, where former Democratic countyLegis. Michael Zapson is one of several politically connected partners. While many of the lobbyists have operated in Nassau for years -- and have disclosed activity with New YorkState -- they never before had to register locally. The change was prompted by the May arrests of state Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Cen *Tapes Reveal How Indicted@SenatorSkelos Used Nassau County Exec @EdMangano to Manipulate @NYGovCuomo

A federal magistrate orderedLong Island restaurateur Harendra Singh jailed until trial on bribery charges, agreeing with federal prosecutors that he had violated the conditions of his release on a $5 million bond by fraudulently attempting to get a $148,000 loan.

Company Just Formed Under Federal Investigation For Winning Storm Cleanup Contract

Nassau’s first bid solicitation for a $12 million storm cleanup contract — a pact under federal investigation for its ties to political donations — came just two days after the company that ultimately received the work was formed, newly obtained records show.

Federal Indictments and the New Nassau DA Will Have A Major Impact On the Control of the State Senate

Even the Chairman of the Nassau GOP Is Planning On Major Indictments

Nassau Republican Chairman Joseph Mondello leveled extraordinary criticism at GOP officials who are embroiled in public corruption scandals, saying he was “angry as hell,” and would do everything he can to “get them out of the party” if they are convicted. * Long Island restaurateur Harendra Singhwas re-arrested by FBI agents on a charge of violating the conditions of his release on $5 million bond by submitting a fraudulent loan application.* At least seven candidates are in the mix to run in a special election for the State Senate seat vacated last week when Dean Skelos was convicted of bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges.* At least seven candidates, including Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky, may run in a special election for the state Senate seat vacated by Dean Skelos, who was convicted on corruption charges, Newsday reports: * Gianaris: Senate Dems In Good Position To Win Skelos Seat (Updated)

As True News Has Been Reporting the Next Federal Corruption Case Centers On Nassau County Ex Managano

New York’s next big corruption scandal (George Marlin, NYP) There was a stunning revelation in the corruption trial that convicted Dean Skelos: Gov. Cuomo’s favorite Republican, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, planned to “assert Fifth Amendment privilege” if called to testify about the AbTech contract, the prosecutor told the judge in a sidebar — and the feds were “not prepared to immunize” him. AbTech is the Arizona-based environmental company that saw its financial struggles start to turn around in 2013 with a surprising $12 million public-works contract from NassauCounty — after hiring Skelos’ son, Adam. Mangano, by saying he’d take the Fifth, was asserting his fear that he’d incriminate himself if he answered prosecutors’ questions about the awarding of that contract. This should’ve been front-page news on Long Island — particularly in the wake of allegations that federally indicted restaurateur Harendra Singh arranged and paid for some of Mangano’s vacation trips and comped him thousands of dollars of meals. Plus, the guy Mangano has publicly called his “best friend,”

Walker received federal immunity for taking the stand on that case, he has no protection from other ongoing federal investigations involving NassauCounty contracts for campaign donors and business pushed to a personal friend. Finally, taped conversations between Skelos and Mangano, played at the trial, place the county executive in the mix of the AbTech scandal. All this, when Mangano’s administration is crumbling and the county’s finances are cratering. A June 2014 report from the state comptroller suggested Nassau’s Industrial Development Authority skirts the law and grants sweetheart deals to the politically connected. The next month, an investigation by acting DA Madeline Singas concluded Nassau’s contracting process is a “recipe for corruption” because it’s not insulated “from improper influence, manipulation, collusion and fraud.” A proposal like the AbTech deal, the DA observed, “illustrates a systemic failure of NassauCounty’s procurement and contract management process to ward off corruption.”Coincidentally, after the dumbing-down of the financial control board, Republican Mangano endorsed Democrat Cuomo in his bid for a second gubernatorial term.* The U.S. Senate confirmed Robert Capers’ appointment as the new U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, making him the chief federal law enforcement official for Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens and StatenIsland, Newsday reports

D'Amato Testimony At Skelos and Son's Trial: "Appeatance of Impropriety"

D'Amato said — including recommending Adam register as a lobbyist because it sounded like that's what he was doing already. D'Amato said his company, Park Strategies, had no interest in hiring him because it would give an "appearance of impropriety" since his firm lobbies the state. Asked afterwards about why he testified for the prosecution, D'Amato said, "I didn't testify against my friend. I just answered questions." *

D’Amato says he warned Skelos about son’s no-show job (NYP) He recalled telling Dean that his business partner Greg Serio was “very upset” about Adam’s gig as a $78,000-a-year program director at PRI. But Dean – who had pressured friend and PRI CEO Anthony Bonomo to give Adam the job in the first place — didn’t seem all that concerned. US Attorney Preet Bharara, who has been a frequent fixture at the ongoing father-son trial, also showed up Friday for D’Amato’s testimony. D’Amato also recalled how Dean asked him to meet with Adam, 33, to give him “some advice” – so he did. “I asked if he was a registered lobbyist,” D’Amato said, noting that some of Adam’s political “activities” seemed like ones he’d be “required to register.” But Adam took the one-on-one as an opportunity to ask D’Amato for a job at Park Strategies, a request that was promptly shut down to avoid an “appearance of impropriety,” the pol testified. D’Amato, a former resident of Highland Park, a Long Island town that is represented by Dean, took a moment to plug his pal’s senatorial career. “His service was fabulous,” he said. “He was always attentive to the needs of constituents throughout the district.” Outside the courthouse, D’Amato denied that he took the stand against Dean. “I didn’t testify against my friend. I just answered the questions,” he told reporters. Prosecutors expect to wrap up their case Monday. Defense attorneys said Friday Adam won’t testify and will decide by Saturday night if Dean will take the stand. * Former Sen. Alphonse D’Amato took to the witness stand at former state Sen. Dean Skelos’ corruption trial, saying he met personally with Skelos to warn him about his son Adam’s behavior at his job, The New York Timesreports

Bonomo D'Amato and the PRI Job for Adam Skelos How Albany Pay to Play Works

Testimony at Trial Details No-Show Job of Dean Skelos’s Son (NYT) Anthony Bonomo testified that he was afraid to fire Adam Skelos, 33, from his $78,000-a-year job because it might upset his father, who at the time was the State Senate majority leader. Mr. Skelos was hired by P.R.I. earlier that year, and evidence offered Thursday at the political corruption trial of State Senator Dean G. Skelos, a Long Island Republican, and his son, Adam, showed he rarely appeared for work. Adam Skelos’s former supervisor has previously testified that the senator’s son threatened to “smash” in his head after he questioned his work habits. ut Anthony Bonomo, the company’s chief executive and owner, testified on Thursday that he was afraid to fire Adam Skelos, 33, from his $78,000-a-year job because it might upset the senator, whose influence as the Senate majority leader could sway legislation that could directly affect P.R.I., a medical malpractice insurer on Long Island that is licensed by the state. “I just felt that it was best to do nothing and to avoid the chance in Albany that, you know, that we would run into a problem with any legislation,”

Mr. Bonomo explained. Mr. Bonomo, 57, acknowledged that he and Senator Skelos, 67, have known each other for years. The two met in 1980 when Mr. Bonomo was a law clerk at a firm that the older Mr. Skelos worked for. Over the years, they stayed in touch, meeting at political fund-raisers and charity events. Mr. Bonomo would go on to run P.R.I., which has significant business before the state. For a time he was chairman of the New York Racing Association. In 2010, at a party hosted by Park Strategies, a lobbying and corporate strategy firm founded by former United States Senator Alfonse M. D’Amato, a New York Republican, a conversation between the two men turned to what Mr. Bonomo could do for Adam Skelos. In cross-examination, G. Robert Gage Jr., a lawyer for the senator, asked Mr. Bonomo if the senator had ever linked the executive’s treatment of Adam Skelos to the senator’s positions on legislation that could affect P.R.I. “No, he did not,” Mr. Bonomo replied.* Skelos indictment points to medical malpractice firm (Capital) * , Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed Anthony Bonomo, a former a board member, chairman of the New York Racing Association. * New racing boss has ties to Skelos corruption scheme (NYP)* Insurance executive Anthony Bonomo testified that he was afraid to fire Adam Skelos because it might upset his father, Dean Skelos, whose influence as the Senate majority leader could sway legislation, The New York Times reports:

"Physicians Reciprocal, like other large companies in New York, contracts witha number of heavy-hitting lobby firms, including two that are tied to the environmental firm in the Skelos probe. State lobby records show Bonomo's company hired The Capitol Group and Brian Meara, companies that also represented an affiliate of AbTech, the Arizona-based environmental firm linked to the Skelos investigation. Physicians Reciprocal also hired Park Strategies, a firm led by former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato."* Skelos is also accused of extorting a $100,000 no-show job for his son from Anthony Bonomo, whose two medical malpractice firms have combined to pay D'Amato's lobbying firm, Park Strategies, $795,000 since 2007. Bonomo has co-hosted political fundraisers with D'Amato, and his goldmine of campaign contributions, including $75,000 to Mangano and $400,000 to Gov. Cuomo, meticulously track D'Amato alliances.* * According to evidence introduced in his criminal trial, Adam Skelos had a direct line into his father's top staffer, Robert Mujica, and emailed him about setting up a meeting between AbTech and the Department of Health while the state studied a ban on fracking, Politico New York reports:

Bonomo just stepped down as the Cuomo-appointed chair of the New York Racing Association, and is singing to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who now leads a veritable chorus of cooperating crooners.*That firm, PRI, has greatly stepped up its lobbying game in recent years, nearly doubling the money they’ve spent lobbying Albany. They’ve even hired four big-time lobbying firms to make their case with the governor and the legislature. One of the lobbyists hired by PRI is one Brian Meara. Meara isup to his eyeballs in the federal corruption case against disgraced former Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver. Anthony Bonomo is firmly enmeshed in the state’s campaign finance firmament. P.R.I. and members of the Bonomo family have donated more than $877,000 to state-level candidates and party committees in the 2014 election cycle, placing them among the top 25 largest contributors in the entire state, according to the state Board of Elections. The largest beneficiary was Cuomo. The governor along with the state Democratic Committee received nearly $400,000 over the past four years from the Bonomo family, according to Board of Elections records. Along the way, Bharara flipped the bagman for the state’s largest political donor, a man responsible for spreading millions in campaign cash all over the state to politicians in both parties, and let it be known that he now had god-only-knows how many new wiretap targets thanks to Sheldon Silver. That sent shockwaves through Albany and has lawmakers all over town freaking right the hell out.Bharara is so far in their heads that they are too scared to even do typical end of session horse trading for fear that Bharara will nail them for it. The recent FBI raids on the homes of WNY’s premier ratfcker Steve Pigeon and his cronies may be unrelated to all of this. Or maybe they aren’t.

Ten lobbying firms and nine companies with in-house lobbyists have registered with NassauCounty during the first six months of its new disclosure requirements – with most focusing their efforts on County Executive Edward Mangano’s office.*

Among the 19
businesses, 67 individual lobbyists have registered since June on behalf of 54
clients, including labor unions, large builders and county contractors, online
records show. Those clients include
Forest City Ratner, the Brooklyn company
leading the $260 million Nassau Coliseum renovations. Former Republican Sen.
Alfonse D'Amato's Park Strategies is the largest local lobbyist, with 20
clients, followed by the nine clients claimed by Davidoff Hutcher & Citron
LLP, where former Democratic countyLegis. Michael Zapson is
one of several politically connected partners. While many of the lobbyists
have operated in Nassau for years -- and have
disclosed activity with New YorkState -- they never
before had to register locally. The change was prompted by the May arrests of
state Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and his son, Adam, on federal
corruption charges partially related to a $12 million county contract. All but
one of the 19 entities that have registered so far listed Mangano's office as
one of its expected lobbying targets. Fifteen registrants also listed the
Nassau County Legislature. In addition to registering, firms also must report
their compensation from listed clients. For the first period of June 1 to Aug.
31, the lobbyists reported being paid a total of $336,000, led by $123,000
billed by Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, which is based in Garden City. Manhattan-based
Park Strategies, which is also one of the larger state lobbyists, filed in
Nassau to represent 20 clients, including Forest City Ratner (which also
registered its own employees as lobbyists); Gannett Fleming Engineers, which
has won more than $6 million in county contracts since 2011, mostly to design
and oversee wastewater treatment plant improvements; and Allvision, a company
that was poised to erect large electronic billboards across Nassau before the
project stalled earlier this year. its first quarterly statement, Park
reported $79,000 in billings, including $15,000 from Nassau Events Center,
which Forest City Ratner set up for the purposes of the Coliseum redevelopment
project. Nassau Events Center this spring received county approval to partially
finance the $260 million plan with foreign investments.

Dana Sanneman, a
Park spokeswoman, said in a statement that the firm was pleased Nassau had
started a system that "assists government in becoming more transparent."

Newsday Only Paper Covering that Mangano Will Not Talk to the Feds About Sekos and de Blasio Contributor

Harendra Singh was big de Blasio donor... * Former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, a Republican, is not on the ballot this year, but his looming corruption trial has shadowedKate Murray, the Republican candidate running for district attorney in his home base of NassauCounty, on Long Island. * The NYT endorsed Madeline Singas, the Democratic Nassau County DA candidate, has been serving in an acting capacity in the job since the former occupant, Kathleen Rice, resigned in January to become a member of Congress. *Newsday: “Singas doesn’t have Murray’s high name recognition. Instead, she brings 24 years of respected experience in law enforcement. The evidence points to only one verdict: Singas is by far the better choice.” * On the advice of their respective attorneys, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and his chief deputy, Rob Walker, both plan to refuse to answer questions from federal prosecutors about their relationships with indicted Long Island restaurateur Harendra Singh, according to several sources. * Democrats have sought to tie Republican Nassau County district attorney candidate Kate Murray to embattled state Sen. Dean Skelos, and strategists are watching to see what corruption may mean as an electoral concern, the Times reports:

On Eve of Silver Trial Only Newsday Is Only Paper Took Bharara Advice to Investigate CorruptionNewsday Report Thrown Out of Public Building Asking for Public Records About Long Island restaurateur Harendra Singh At the Center of the Skelos Corruption Trial

Newsday reporter seeking Oyster Bay public records escorted out by cop (Newsday) Oyster BayTown Hall in 2014. Newsday reporter Ted Phillips was escorted out of Oyster BayTown offices on Friday, Oct. 30, 2015, while seeking public records concerning town zoning board meetings. (Credit: Danielle Finkelstein) A NassauCounty police officer escorted a Newsday reporter out of Oyster BayTown offices Monday after the reporter requested records from the town's zoning board of appeals. The police officer told reporter Ted Phillips that he was responding to a call about a "disturbance" and led Phillips out of the building. No charges were filed against Phillips. The records the reporter requested are meeting minutes, available to the public, concerning appeals to the town's zoning board for variances from town code. Oyster Bay spokesman Brian Devine emailed a statement that said police were called "because the reporter conducted himself in a disorderly and disruptive manner. This was not the first time that he has engaged in such inappropriate and unprofessional behavior." Oyster BayTown has been at the center of a controversy regarding the town's relationship with Long Island restaurateur Harendra Singh. Last month, federal authorities indicted Singh on charges that included bribing a then-Oyster Bay employee in exchange for the town's guarantee of $20 million in loans for two businesses that provide food concessions. Singh has pleaded not guilty. "I was in the ZBA office for about three minutes," Phillips said. "I was firm about the law, but the conversation was cordial." As the town employee led Phillips to the offices of Commissioner of Planning and Development Frederick Ippolito and his deputy, Diana Aquiar, two town public safety officers asked the ZBA supervisor whom they had been called about. She said she didn't know, and she and Phillips entered the waiting room for Ippolito's office, Phillips said. Aquiar then came out and told Phillips that public safety officers would be "showing you out," according to Phillips' audio recording of the conversation. When Phillips responded that he had a legal right to look at the minutes, Aquiar said, "Well, they're not going to waste their time right now putting that together for you."

The Dems On LI Are Using the Fed Investigation of the GOP in Nassau County to Campaign for DA

The Cook At the Center of the Long Island Fed Investigation Also Gave to de Blasio

A Restaurateur facing bribery charges was major de Blasio donor (NYP) Long Island restaurant magnate facing bribery and tax-evasion charges was a major donor to Mayor de Blasio’s 2013 campaign and landed appointments to three city panels, The Post has learned. Harendra Singh, 56, was named to the advisory board of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York, the mayor’s committee to push pre-K and the host committee trying to lure the 2016 Democratic National convention after he hauled in more than $27,000 for de Blasio. Singh, 56, owns a half-dozen restaurants on Long Island as well as The Water’s Edge eatery in Long IslandCity — where the de Blasio campaign spent $2,613.01 on events. Singh ArrestedLong Island Restaurateur Harendra Singh Arrested On Multiple Criminal Charges The indictment charges that Singh paid bribes and kickbacks to a city employee in exchange for his assistance in obtaining guarantee of two loans totaling about US $20 million * Indicted LI restaurateur boasted of access to Mangano,other officials, and gave them free meals, employees say (Newsday) * Federal prosecutors are turning over tens of thousands of pages of records, including those from 300 bank accounts, to attorneys for Harendra Singh, the prominent Long Island restaurateur, in preparation for his trial on bribery and other felony charges. de Blasio Connection

Only Newsday Has Been Reporting On the Long Island Fed Investigation That Can Down the GOP Senate and A Governor

D'Amato and Mangano D'Amato made several indirect appearances in the indictment of Dean Skelos, the third Senate majority leader he helped install. The charging documents describe a compliant Ed Mangano, the NassauCounty executive — who let D'Amato speak at his inaugural, awarded the county's bus line to a D'Amato client and hired D'Amato's daughter — as a champion for the county environmental contract that Skelos is charged with fixing. Skelos is also accused of extorting a $100,000 no-show job for his son from Anthony Bonomo, whose two medical malpractice firms have combined to pay D'Amato's lobbying firm, Park Strategies, $795,000 since 2007.

Indicted LI restaurateur boasted of access to Mangano,other officials, and gave them free meals, employees sayD'Amato made several indirect appearances in the indictment of Dean Skelos, the third Senate majority leader he helped install. The charging documents describe a compliant Ed Mangano, the NassauCounty executive — who let D'Amato speak at his inaugural, awarded the county's bus line to a D'Amato client and hired D'Amato's daughter — as a champion for the county environmental contract that Skelos is charged with fixing. Skelos is also accused of extorting a $100,000 no-show job for his son from Anthony Bonomo, whose two medical malpractice firms have combined to pay D'Amato's lobbying firm, Park Strategies, $795,000 since 2007. Bonomo has co-hosted political fundraisers with D'Amato, and his goldmine of campaign contributions, including $75,000 to Mangano and $400,000 to Gov. Cuomo, meticulously track D'Amato alliances. Bonomo just stepped down as the Cuomo-appointed chair of the New York Racing Association, and is singing to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who now leads a veritable chorus of cooperating crooners. Tuesday CYA Investigation Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano agreed to accept the recommendations of a panel he named to review the county contracting process, including an anti-“pay to play” law that would cap vendors’ political contributions.* David Doyle, vice president of governmental communicationsat SUNY Poly, writes in a letter to the Times Union that it follows the state’s procurement procedures to the letter and politics has been a non-factor in its work:* Alain Kaloyeros, Powerful Centerpiece of Buffalo Billion,Could Become Household Name

Is D'Amato A Fed Target? Does Al Have the Goods to Turn On the Gov? Only Feds KnowIn the Middle of the Federal Investigations Lobbyists D'Amato Won Two of the Five Marijuana Contracts Awarded

Lovett: SUNY Polytechnic Institute head may be on radar of federal prosecutors (NYDN) A number of current and former top-level state officials say they are not surprised Alain Kaloyeros, the politically connected head of a StateUniversity high-tech research center, may now be on the radar of federal prosecutors. “Given all the public and private money going through there, it’s got the potential for some real stuff,” said one former Kaloyeros colleague. “Whether it’s something necessarily bad, I don’t know, but it’s not surprising the feds might be looking at it.” The Daily News first reported Friday that Kaloyeros’ SUNY Polytechnic Institute had been issued subpoenas as part of US Attorney Preet Bharara’s probe into Gov. Cuomo’s “Buffalo Billion” economic development initiative. With a total compensation package of $811,000, Kaloyeros is one of the state’s highest-paid employees. * A number of current and former top-level state officials say they are not surprised Alain Kaloyeros, the politically connected head of a StateUniversity high-tech research center, may now be on the radar of federal prosecutors, the Daily News writes:* Cuomo said he played no role in a campaign contributor winning a multi-million-dollar construction bid in Buffalo that is now reportedly the subject of a probe by U.S. attorney Preet Bharara, Politico New York writes: * SUNY Poly insists contracting was transparent. But news orgshave had to sue to get Buffalo Billion records released Update Wednesday SUNY Poly chief Alain Kaloyeros would not take questions in Syracuse on the reported investigation into the Buffalo billion.

Cuomo Throws Professor Under the Bus Cuomosaid he played no role in a campaign contributor winning a mutli-million-dollar construction bid in Buffalo that is now reportedly the subject of a probe by Southern District U.S. attorney Preet Bharara. “SUNY has administered the grant process, so literally all I know is what I read in the newspaper, but I’m very proud of what we’re doing in Buffalo,” the governor told reporters.* Jim Heaney of Investigative Post believes the federal probe of the Buffalo Billion will almost certainly focus on Alain Kaloyeros, the Albany nanotech guru who is quarterbacking the project. JCOPE A JOKE A panel reviewing the operations of the state’s ethics and lobbying watchdog, JCOPE,faces a Nov. 1 deadline to issue a report on its findings. But it’s not clear how deeply the panel can or will delve into the operations of an entity often criticized for its secrecy and charged with a lack of independence. Silver and Skelos Target U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is on the warpath (CrainsNY) Using techniques perfected in fighting terrorists and organized crime, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has won nine out of 10 cases against a parade of disgraced Albany lawmakers. Now he's trying to reel in his biggest fish: former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, whose trials are scheduled to begin in November. * Preet vs. Albany(CrainsNY) The U.S. attorney is on the warpath. How two political bigwigs hope to beat him. * N.Y. is starting a new audit of PRI, the insurer caught inthe Skelos scandal, and hasn't released the last one

Senator Pot Hole Has Become Head of the Lobbyists Organize Crime Commission

Also harmonizing for Bharara in the Skelos case and the one against former Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver are top associates of developer Leonard Litwin and his Glenwood Management, both of which were once D'Amato clients and, like Bonomo, synchronized many of their political contributions with D'Amato. Litwin's real estate company paid Skelos' son directly and through the environmental firm, where it was a major investor. Both Bonomo and Litwin are among the few large donors to Renew New York, a PAC controlled by D'Amato that gave $25,000 to Mangano and bankrolls other D'Amato allies. D'Amato's connections to indicted senators don't end there. Tom Libous, the Senate deputy majority leader whose son has already been convicted in a parallel case with the one against the senator that is scheduled to go to trial in July, is accused of lying about a law firm job he allegedly got for his son. When Libous wanted a bigger paycheck for his boy, a $50,000 bonus was allegedly funneled to the law firm through Fred Hiffa, an Albany lobbyist. Hiffa wound up leaving his own lobbying firm and is now a managing director of D'Amato's. * Mangano names D'Amato daughter to $105G post | Newsday (2011) * D’Amato made several indirect appearances in the indictment of Dean Skelos, the third Senate majority leader he helped install. The charging documents describe a compliant Ed Mangano, the NassauCounty executive — who let D'Amato speak at his inaugural, awarded the county's bus line to a D'Amato client and hired D'Amato's daughter — as a champion for the county environmental contract that Skelos is charged with fixing.

LI scandal figure was big de Blasio donor but faces
ouster from city property (Newsday) Harendra Singh, the Long Island
restaurateur indicted on federal charges of bribing an Oyster Bay official,
donated thousands of dollars to Mayor Bill de Blasio's campaign and won
appointments to join business leaders and celebrities on three mayoral
committees as well as the advisory board of a city-led philanthropy. But Singh
and his wife, Ruby, are battling city lawyers who are trying to evict the
couple's Queens waterfront restaurant from city property, alleging it owes $1.4
million in rent underpayments and late fees. Singh's family and associates also
gave tens of thousands of dollars to de Blasio for his 2013 election campaign.
De Blasio representatives declined several times to answer questions about the
mayor's relationship with the concessionaire. A Newsday analysis of campaign
finance data found at least $54,651 in donations to de Blasio's mayoral
campaign and transition committee made by Singh; his wife; his father, Rajesh;
his mother, Rajeshwari; and people Singh bundled contributions from as a
fundraising intermediary. The Singh-linked donors also include two sons of
close friend Kamlesh Mehta, the Mangano-appointed Nassau director of business and economic development,
and two Mehta family members. According to city records, the 39 contributions
were made between December 2010 and December 2013. A Nov. 6, 2013, photo album,
posted on the Water's Edge Facebook page and since deleted, congratulated de
Blasio on his election and said the restaurant was "privileged to host one
of his fundraising events." Singh was named to prestigious posts by de
Blasio's team: the committee to finance and plan his January 2014 inauguration,
the committee backing the city's ultimately failed bid to host the 2016
Democratic National Convention and the UPKNYC campaign committee, supporting
universal prekindergarten. Singh also was recruited to serve on the advisory
board to the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City, a public-private partnership
that is chaired by first lady Chirlane McCray. Asked whether Singh's donations
to de Blasio will be returned, a spokesman for the campaign, Dan Levitan, said
the 2013 account is already closed. The campaign is raising funds for de
Blasio's 2017 re-election bid.

Levitan declined to comment on the mayor's relationship
to Singh. Mayoral spokeswoman Ishanee Parikh had referred questions about the
relationship to the campaign. Singh and his network of donors also gave $1,750
to the 2013 and 2017 campaigns of Public Advocate Letitia James, and $2,200 to
the 2009 and 2013 campaigns of City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer. De Blasio says prosecution of Harendra Singh
is 'as it should be' (Newday)

Deputy Town Attorney Frederick Mei, in exchange for the
town's guarantee of $20 million in loans for two businesses that provide food
concessions. He also is accused of fraudulently collecting nearly $1 million in
federal disaster aid by falsely reporting superstorm Sandy damage to Water's Edge. Singh pleaded
not guilty to all the charges.

Newsday stories have chronicled how Singh cultivated
relationships with Long Island public officials, including paying for trips to
the Caribbean and Asia and allegedly providing free meals for NassauCounty
Executive Edward Mangano and others. A Mangano aide and lawyer dispute that he
got free meals or travel. Mangano has not been charged with wrongdoing.

Wayne Barrett wrote in June of a recent D'Amato scandal connections don't all revolve around Albany. The FBI and state investigators hit the headlines in Buffalo recently when they raided the homes of three major political operatives, including Steve Pigeon and Steve Casey, both of whom work for one of D'Amato's biggest upstate clients, the Congel family, father-and-son mall developers. Their companies paid D'Amato $2.7 million in federal and state lobbying fees. Not only did D'Amato represent the Congel company on a troubled Rochester project, he represented the MonroeCounty government that backed it. Barrett also wrote "With a senate leader beholden to him, a governor allied with him, a Nassau county executive in his pocket, and extraordinary lifelong ties to the father of U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Al D'Amato, dubbed Senator Shakedown decades ago, rules now without the accountability of a public office, a shadow cast across an already darkened capital."

If Singh Sings Its Katy Bar the Door

Long Island Restaurateur Harendra Singh Arrested On Multiple Criminal Charges The indictment charges that Singh paid bribes and kickbacks to a city employee in exchange for his assistance in obtaining guarantee of two loans totaling about US $20 million

. Sequence suggests Ratner donation to D'Amato PAC was routed to Nassau County executive key to Coliseum deal (AYR) The transactional relationship between Brooklyn developer Bruce Ratner, a self-described liberal Democrat, and political operative Al D'Amato, the former Republican Senator, is more extensive than previously reported. Beyond the article below about a curious campaign contribution, also see description of D'Amato's city/state lobbying and federal lobbying on behalf of Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. Forest City Ratner has paid D'Amato's Park Strategies more than $3 million for lobbying and consultation related to Atlantic Yards and the Nassau Coliseum. Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner, who last August won the nod to revamp the Nassau Coliseum, did not--according to state campaign finance records--contribute directly to the successful re-election campaign of Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, who favored Ratner's bid over that of rival Madison Square Garden. However, it looks as if Ratner and his wife, Pam Lipkin, indirectly gave Mangano's campaign $25,000. * The property surrounding Nassau Coliseum, now largely blacktop, would become home to a multiacre biotech park built atop an underground parking garage and linked to nearby communities by bus rapid transit and new pedestrian bridges, according to a plan by Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano.

Their $12,500 contributions to lobbyist Alfonse D'Amato's PAC, Renew New York were soon followed by a $25,000 contribution from the PAC to Mangano, whose office remains involved in the Coliseum project. D'Amato posted an op-ed last October 24 supporting Mangano, citing, among other things, the Coliseum revamp. He didn't mention that he was lobbying the CountyExecutive on behalf of Ratner, that Mangano had hired his daughter, or that, just after he'd gotten a contribution from Ratner (and Lipkin), he'd direct the exact same sum to Mangano. Former Village Voice investigative reporter Wayne Barrett called D'Amato "the most ethically compromised politician" he ever covered (with "no fucking competition for this".* US Attorney Preet Bharara’s probe of the Buffalo Billion has brought Fake Shelly Silver out of retirement.

Lobbyist Al D'Amato Bag $795,000 From PRI and All New Yokers Will Get is Higher Medical Costs

N.Y. Audit of Insurer Tied to Graft Probe MaySpur Higher Rates (Bloomberg Politics) New York doctors, some of whom already pay 10 times more for malpractice insurance than physicians in San Francisco, may see their rates soar thanks to a state audit beginning this month. Physicians’ Reciprocal Insurers, whose shaky finances are central to an Albany corruption probe, has said in annual reports since 2009 that the state could liquidate it absent a law that blocks that action. Medical groups say the new audit might drive away doctors, sending PRI into insolvency, raising costs for remaining companies and leaving patients with fewer options for care. The company, is at the center of allegations against former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who federal prosecutors say used his influence with the firm to secure a job for his son. New York hasn’t completed or released its most recent review of PRI, which was conducted in 2009, according to the company. If corruption or lack of funds takes down PRI expect cost to go up, said Ellen Melchionni, president of the New York Insurance Association, a trade group. “A failure would mean the guaranty fund would be triggered,” Melchionni said. “Every single company writing property and casualty insurance would have to kick in, leading to higher insurance costs for all New York residents and businesses.”PRI Paid D'Amato and Contributed to Cuomo and Skelo to Hide Damaging Information and Blocking Liquidation of the Company Unable to Meet Costs

Martin Schwartzman, who retired from the Department of Financial Services in April as a senior adviser to the insurance superintendent, says Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration is trying to hide damaging information. The new audit could cause PRI “to burst into flames,” if doctors leave for other insurers, said Michael Goldstein, a Manhattan ophthalmologist and president of the New York County Medical Society. New York has supported the industry for 30 years by extending a law that blocks regulators from liquidating companies unable to meet long-term costs, such as PRI. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed three extensions passed by lawmakers.

PRI Owner Bonomo Was Removed As Head of the NYSRA After the Investigation For Giving Skelos Son A Job Become Public

The insurer, management firm and the manager’s chief executive officer, Anthony Bonomo -- along with his family members and company executives -- combine to rank among Cuomo’s biggest donors. The giving includes $10,500 from Gerald Dolman, president of Administrators for the Professions, to cover Cuomo’s October private-plane flight to Buffalo for a televised debate, according to campaign disclosures and the governor’s schedules. The group is also among the biggest donors to Skelos, a Long Island Republican whostepped down from his leadership post after his May arrest. Skelos had helped Cuomo pass the first five consecutive on-time budgets in more than 30 years, two of which included extensions to the law that helped PRI. Its filings to the insurance commissioners group say that the state could liquidate PRI if it weren’t for the law blocking it. The 1985 measure was pushed through the legislature by Cuomo’s father, three-term governor Mario Cuomo, in an effort to stabilize the industry.

“I personally am trying to lose weight,” said de Blasio.“I have to watch my waistline,” echoed the governor.While the mayor emphasized his ability to work with anyone, he also made clear that his defiance of Albany would continue.* A review Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas undertook after state Sen. Dean Skelos’ arrest found Nassau’s process for awarding contracts is “a recipe for corruption,” Newsday reports: * De Blasio says he'll speak the truth in Cuomo feud (NYDN) * Both NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and Cuomo declined an offer by former Sen. Al D’Amato to sit down at Rao’s in East Harlem to work out their publicly documented differences over pasta. (Both said they’re trying to watch their weight, and this might be the one thing they agree on).

“I don’t spend a lot of time trying to figure out other people’s interpretations; I think it had to be said,” the mayor said of his very public criticism of the governor. De Blasio also saidhe’s comfortable with the “right” use of compromise in Albany, but not “business as usual” at the Capitol. * Nassau’s process for awarding contracts is “a recipe for corruption,” with no requirements that vendors disclose criminal convictions and no easy way to check for conflicts of interest, acting District Attorney Madeline Singas said. Her review was sparked by former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos’ corruption scandal. Arm-twisting from Cuomo, Stephanie Miner said, “takes the form of anonymous threats and also third parties coming to you and threatening.” * Cuomo Is Put on Defensive by Fellow Democrats Over His Style (NYT) Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo faces a choice: Appease offended party members by adjusting his style, or continue the hard-edged methods his supporters call essential to governing. * De Blasio Stands by His Criticism of Cuomo (NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio, in his first appearance since returning from vacation, made clear that time apart from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had not led to a change of heart. * Mayor Continues to Talk Tough About Defending City's Interests (NY1)

Lobbyists behind N.Y. lawmaker’s $22K Taiwan trip Lee said he understood that King, as alobbyist, was not allowed to organize trips for members. But Lee said, “[King]
just passed a message to this office, and we just took it over.” Asked about
the email messages and contact logs showing extensive discussions between Park
Strategies and Owens’s office about the trip, Lee referred questions to Park
Strategies. “While Park Strategies did ask Congressman Owens to visit Taiwan,
and also offered input regarding his travel agenda, the trip was sponsored by
Taiwan’s Chinese [Culture] University,” Park Strategies Managing Director
Christopher D’Amato said in a statement.

In 2003, former U.S. Sen. Al D'Amato, now a leading lobbyist, vaulted into the headlines for earning $500,000 to place a single phone call on behalf of a client to the chairman of the MTA to save a deal that was said to be going sour. Four hundred thousand of that was a "success" bonus for putting the deal back on track. Shortly after, Republican John Flanagan, then a freshman senator with just five months on the job — and a new salaried employee of a law firm founded by D'Amato's brother -sponsored a bill designed to protect D'Amato. The Senate was about to vote on a Republican-backed bill that would extend lobbying disclosure requirements to state authorities like the MTA, whose chair sprung into action after D'Amato's entreaty. At the last minute, Flanagan introduced an alternative filled with poison pills. Not only did it exempt "vendor disputes," precisely what prompted D'Amato's half-million-dollar call, it required the lobbying commission to establish "intentionality" to penalize lobbyists who violated the statutes. Flanagan's sham bill, so rushed he had to handwrite the memo supporting it on the floor, conflicted with the Assembly bill that had already passed and finished off any effort at reform that year. No wonder that on NY1 shortly after Flanagan's recent elevation to Senate majority leader, D'Amato said: "I'm glad to see that John has taken the reins."

DE BLASIO BENEFITED FROM D’AMATO MONEY:While Bill de Blasio was elected mayor as a progressive Democrat, he quietly took contributions from people closely tied to former U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato, who is now a lobbyist and perhaps the state’s most powerful Republican.

Al D'Amatoa lobbyist and fixer who began his career by requiring Town ofHempstead employees to illegally kick back 1 percent of theirsalaries to his campaign coffers. He once took a $500,000 fee formaking one phone call to fix a MTA contract and his brother oncefamously forged a letter on US Senate stationary for a lobby client.D'Amato is no position to lecture anyone about fitness for office

NY1 Pension Connection
Global Strategy Group is frequent on air consultant for NY1 along with Carl McCall who was paid 50,000 by a pension investor for brokering a deal with Comptroller Hevesi. NY1 operates a clock on their website on the number of days AG Cuomo has not appeared on their cable channel. Al D'amato is another NY1 lobbyist

Lobbyists rule Albany &amp; D'Amato is Example #1 of everything that is wrong. Reform is required to restore democracy

Elsewhere, he expressed "tremendous relief."In many ways, New York state politics is Al D'Amato's world; we just live in it. And Flanagan, the state's single most powerful Republican, is no exception to that rule.Yet, try as we might — and New Yorkers threw D'Amato out of the Senate 17 years ago — we just can't get rid of Fixer Fonz, whose booming lobbying firm now attracts $8 million a year in seduction fees, the second most of the licensed wirepullers in the state. He made several indirect appearances in the indictment of Dean Skelos, the third Senate majority leader he helped install. The charging documents describe a compliant Ed Mangano, the Nassau County executive — who let D'Amato speak at his inaugural, awarded the county's bus line to a D'Amato client and hired D'Amato's daughter — as a champion for the county environmental contract that Skelos is charged with fixing.

In 2003, former U.S. Sen. Al D'Amato, now a leading lobbyist, vaulted into the headlines for earning $500,000 to place a single phone call on behalf of a client to the chairman of the MTA to save a deal that was said to be going sour. Four hundred thousand of that was a "success" bonus for putting the deal back on track. Shortly after, Republican John Flanagan, then a freshman senator with just five months on the job — and a new salaried employee of a law firm founded by D'Amato's brother -sponsored a bill designed to protect D'Amato. The Senate was about to vote on a Republican-backed bill that would extend lobbying disclosure requirements to state authorities like the MTA, whose chair sprung into action after D'Amato's entreaty. At the last minute, Flanagan introduced an alternative filled with poison pills. Not only did it exempt "vendor disputes," precisely what prompted D'Amato's half-million-dollar call, it required the lobbying commission to establish "intentionality" to penalize lobbyists who violated the statutes. Flanagan's sham bill, so rushed he had to handwrite the memo supporting it on the floor, conflicted with the Assembly bill that had already passed and finished off any effort at reform that year. No wonder that on NY1 shortly after Flanagan's recent elevation to Senate majority leader, D'Amato said: "I'm glad to see that John has taken the reins."

Lobbyists Miller Works for D'Amato and Lobbyist McCaughey BF Is A Leader of the Manhattan Institute Whose Lobbyist is D'Amato

Journalist Wayne Barrett Exposes the Media Cover-Up of Lobbyists D'Amato Corruption and Control of State Senate

Skelos is also accused of extorting a $100,000 no-show job for his son from Anthony Bonomo, whose two medical malpractice firms have combined to pay D'Amato's lobbying firm, Park Strategies, $795,000 since 2007. Bonomo has co-hosted political fundraisers with D'Amato, and his goldmine of campaign contributions, including $75,000 to Mangano and $400,000 to Gov. Cuomo, meticulously track D'Amato alliances. Bonomo just stepped down as the Cuomo-appointed chair of the New York Racing Association, and is singing to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who now leads a veritable chorus of cooperating crooners. Also harmonizing for Bharara in the Skelos case and the one against former Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver are top associates of developer Leonard Litwin and his Glenwood Management, both of which were once D'Amato clients and, like Bonomo, synchronized many of their political contributions with D'Amato. Litwin's real estate company paid Skelos' son directly and through the environmental firm, where it was a major investor. Both Bonomo and Litwin are among the few large donors to Renew New York, a PAC controlled by D'Amato that gave $25,000 to Mangano and bankrolls other D'Amato allies. D'Amato's connections to indicted senators don't end there.

Tom Libous, the Senate deputy majority leader whose son has already been convicted in a parallel case with the one against the senator that is scheduled to go to trial in July, is accused of lying about a law firm job he allegedly got for his son. When Libous wanted a bigger paycheck for his boy, a $50,000 bonus was allegedly funneled to the law firm through Fred Hiffa, an Albany lobbyist. Hiffa wound up leaving his own lobbying firm and is now a managing director of D'Amato's. But the recent D'Amato scandal connections don't all revolve around Albany. The FBI and state investigators hit the headlines in Buffalo recently when they raided the homes of three major political operatives, including Steve Pigeon and Steve Casey, both of whom work for one of D'Amato's biggest upstate clients, the Congel family, father-and-son mall developers.Their companies paid D'Amato $2.7 million in federal and state lobbying fees. Not only did D'Amato represent the Congel company on a troubled Rochester project, he represented the MonroeCounty government that backed it. In a separate 2013 investigation, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the feds also raided the headquarters of the Shinnecock Nation, a Long Island-based tribe whose casino rights are controlled by Gateway Casino Resorts, another D'Amato client. * Sen. Kenneth LaValle, a Long Island Republican, has left his job at a law firm, though he said it had nothing to do with the swirl of controversies centering on lawmakers’ sources of outside income.

Barrett's Investigation of D'Amato's 'World That We Live In' Is A Reminder How Today's Journalism Has Failed New Yorkers

When picked in May by a narrow majority of the 32 Republicans in the Senate, Flanagan announced he was leaving the law firm that was paying him up to $150,000 a year. In the furor over Silver and Skelos' outside earnings, Flanagan's move was a welcome, if belated, acknowledgement of the potential conflicts.Flanagan's firm, Forchelli Curto, was founded in 1976 by Armand D'Amato, just as his brother was taking over as presiding supervisor of Hempstead, one of the most powerful positions in NassauCounty politics. When Al D'Amato beat Javits four years later, Armand's small firm, then named D'Amato Forchelli, quickly created a Washington office. Armand left the firm when he was convicted on federal fraud charges in 1993, but returned to it in 2002, seven years after his conviction was overturned. Armand, whose use of his brother's Senate stationary to write letters on Unisys' behalf was blasted by the Senate Ethics Committee, joined his brother's lobbying powerhousePark Strategies in 2004 (and Unisys became a Park client). Flanagan joined the Forchelli firm in 2003, a week after he took office in the state Senate. The Nassau-centric firm even opened an office in Suffolk for Flanagan, Armand and a couple of other attorneys. The firm's web archives detail hundreds of actions on behalf of specific clients, but, like Silver and Skelos at their firms, Flanagan isn't identified with any of them. More cachet than casework, he was, apparently, just another letterhead lawyer. The head of D'Amato's Long Island office, Robert McBride, organized fundraisers for Flanagan in 2006 and 2008, and Park officers and clients, including Litwin and Bonomo, gave tens of thousands.But Flanagan wasn't a shoo-in to replace Skelos after his ouster in May. John DeFrancisco was a strong contender. The Syracuse senator, who came within two votes, has said that Gov. Cuomo made calls to senators on Flanagan's behalf, but DeFrancisco, Cuomo, and D'Amato spokespeople declined to answer repeated questions about D'Amato's involvement. A source close to Flanagan says he was "not aware of any calls" D'Amato may have made and "wasn't in contact" with the lobbyist during the selection process. Other sources who closely tracked the selection say Cuomo did not want to look like he was picking a legislative leader, so ally D'Amato took over. It would hardly be a surprise — D'Amato has been a star player in the naming of the last three Republican majority leaders, Ralph Marino, Joe Bruno and Skelos. Flanagan backed medical marijuana, a departure from his history of introducing bills that banned other, less controversial, drugs, and DeFrancisco voted against it. D'Amato was paid enough in 2014 ($180,000) by one marijuana company, Ideal 420 Technologies, to pen an Op-Ed reversing his position on it, and now a long-term client, North Shore LI Jewish Health Systems, which has paid him up to $180,000 a year, says it will apply to become one of the state's five selected dispensaries for grass.DeFrancisco voted against authorizing three or four new casinos across the state and Flanagan backed it. * The political and business dealings of former Deputy Mayor of Buffalo Steve Casey and Rep. Chris Collins’ chief of staff Chris Grant as well as ties to political operative Steve Pigeon, drew the attention of investigators, The Buffalo News writes:

Gambling in NYS is A Sure Bet for Lobbyists D'Amato Clients

D'Amato has six clients that directly benefitted from the bill, with the Suffolk and Nassau Off-Track Betting Corporations written directly into the law, getting 1,000 video slots apiece even if the casino referendum failed. A third client, Yonkers Raceway, was terrified that its half-billion-dollar-a-year Westchester slot business would disintegrate if the Cuomo administration put a full casino in nearby OrangeCounty. (D'Amato saw no conflict between representing Yonkers and Greentrack, a company that applied to build an OrangeCounty casino.) D'Amato also represents Madison and Oneida counties, which were written into the casino law as well, the beneficiaries of a compact that Cuomo signed with the Oneida tribe granting them exclusive gaming rights in 10 counties. The tribe will pay Madison and Oneida $36 million up front, settling past tax claims against their existing casinos, and millions more in flat and percentage charges for decades to come. He ran up $3.5 million in total casino-related revenue from eight clients and $1.9 million from the Poker Players Alliance, the online gambling organization D'Amato now chairs, combining to make him the king of Albany's gaming insiders, a playground like no other in recent years. The casino issue, in fact, hovered over the Senate selection process. Three upstate senators who voted for Flanagan when they could have relocated the geographic power within the senate GOP to their own region — John Bonacic, Hugh Farley and Mike Nozzolio — got Cuomo-approved casinos in their district. A fourth of the six upstate pro-Flanagan senators, Cathy Young, is so close to Nozzolio that the two are seen in Albany as a team.

While the Cuomo siting board picked these three winners before the Flanagan vote, his Gaming Commission has yet to ratify the selections, adding to the leverage the governor brought to the table.With a senate leader beholden to him, a governor allied with him, a Nassau county executive in his pocket, and extraordinary lifelong ties to the father of U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Al D'Amato, dubbed Senator Shakedown decades ago, rules now without the accountability of a public office, a shadow cast across an already darkened capital.